X-Tinct Emotions
by Jessie4
Summary: An Alternaverse 'fic taking a stroll through MegaMan X
1. Author's Notes

X-Tinct Emotions 

A Mega Man X Fanfiction Story By [Jessie ][1]

Author's Notes

Before you read the story, I'm going to have to tell you a few things. This was written back in '97. That translates to it's being really old. ^-^; It started out as an idea when the first game came out, and whether Zero was male or female was in question. I had decided to make him a girl for the story purposes. So, wherever there's a reference to 'friendship', it was originally a relationship. A friend of mine read the story and corrected me, and I had to change Zero to a he, and all the love refrences to friendship. If you ask me, it takes away from the story, but not by much.

Also, there's a few references to the American Mega Man cartoon. What, I *liked* it! Once I realized the error of my ways, it had become too central to the plot to change anything. Fans of the straight games, please forgive me. Hopefully, the story itself makes up for the bad foundations.

This basically pretends none of the revalations in X3 - 5 ever happened... Consider it an alternaverse 'fic, if you will.. ^^; 

Thanks go out to Andy "Trunks" Bermudes for proofreading my story. If it wasn't for him, Zero would still be a girl. 

If you have any questions or comments, good or bad, just leave a review.. ^^;

   [1]: mailto:MinakoX33@aol.com



	2. X-Tinct Emotions

Circa 2025

Not one person, man or machine, could have predicted the day when Dr. Wily won the war. The calm silence of Capitol City was shattered as the rumbling ripped through the morning. The little laboratory belonging to the famous Dr. Light was being totaled in a horrible earthquake.

"The building is collapsing!" shouted Roll, stating the obvious. "It must be Wily's doing!" replied Roll's dedicated older brother, Mega Man. Dr. Light said nothing; he'd known this day would come for quite some time now. He was busy gathering up all his absolutely necessary materials, including what seemed to be the prototype for a new breed of robot.

The building wasn't built for the kind of abuse an earthquake brings, though, and it wasn't long before the roof totally gave out.

Mega Man saw this before it totally collapsed, and, with amazing speed, reached the most integral point of the roof and supported it with his metallic body. "The place is coming down!", he yelled. "Get out of here!" 

"No! Not without you, Mega!" 

"Don't worry about me! I can't hold this up forever!" 

The two still refused to save themselves. Mega Man, out of pure desperation for the safety of his 'father' and 'sister' shouted: 

"Rush! Get them out of here NOW!!!!!"

The robotic dog, with a whine of protest, grabbed up the girl bot and her creator, and regretfully obeyed his master's commands. The last thing Mega's optical sensors picked up was his 'family' about to be crushed by a stray rock. The figure that stood in the shadows saw to that.

Doppler Town, 3021

Zero crept silently through the ruined town. _To think, _he thought to himself, _this was once the fabulous Capitol City. I can't believe it was ever like those pictures in the history books. But, then again, the last time a book was written was before the war started. Before I was even activated. That seems like so very long ago._ His long blond hair whipped against his helmet through the force of the wind. _I hope Dr. Cain's calculations were right. If I have to wade through another of his wild goose chases, well, I don't know what I'll do, but it'll probably be very violent. _His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of laser fire. _Oh, no. Not here! Why now? _

But, despite what his thoughts may have suggested, Zero was more than capable of handling himself. Almost instinctively he pulled a small stick from his belt, which soon after became a mighty light sword. The foolish bat-bots that fired at him were easily dispatched. _But, there'll be more, _he thought disparagingly._ I'll have to work quickly._

His journey ended when he arrived at a pile of rubble. He began to dig through the mess. _It should be here somewhere. _Finally, he unearthed an old, eroded body, that of a bot that had been buried for hundreds of years. _YES! Here it is! We'll finally win this war! And Proto's death will finally be avenged. _A smile almost crept up into his face, until the plasma blast dislodged his shoulder. He turned around to see a group of the most gruesome of mavericks, Flame Stag, Morph Moth, Magna Centipede, Wheel Gator, and Crystal Snail. 

"Y'know, you guys have really bad timing", he commented, as he readied his sword. But he was outnumbered greatly, and was soon critically injured. With his good arm, he desperately reached into his belt, where he always kept a Plasma grenade. Luckily, he had not already used up his supply in his previous battles that day. He dislodged the safety, and threw the explosive device at the Maverick bots. He knew that it wouldn't destroy them, or even hurt them that much, but it would distract them long enough for him and his cargo to get away. 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The broken robot staggered towards the home base of the Maverick Hunters, using all of his strength, until at last, he collapsed at the door. Sigma happened to find him. As leader of the Maverick Hunters, it was his job to keep up the well-being of all of his troops, and Zero was no different. He brought the rookie and his satchel in with him. His mission had been a success. The fabled hero of the old days would soon be reactivated.

* * * * * * * * * * * 

"This is the moment we've all been waiting for, team!" exclaimed Dr. Cain, whose small spectacles were almost fogged up out of sheer excitement. "The reactivation of the famous hero... Mega Man!"

With that, he flipped a switch on the blue bot's head and closed the red ruby casing it was kept in. Gears clicked and whirred, and finally, his eyes opened. 

Immediately he took on a panicked expression. 

"ROLL, RUSH, DR. LIGHT! LOOK OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" 

The Maverick Hunters stared at each other. Storm Eagle was the first to give voice to his thoughts.

"What are you talking about?"

Mega Man finally seemed to realize that he was not in a collapsing shack anymore; he had been taken somewhere else. 

"Wh-Where am I? Who are all of you? What am I doing here? What happened to Dr. Light, Roll, and Rush?" 

"Of course. You were put out of commission during the great quake of the 2120's." Observed the Doctor. "You wouldn't know anything about everything after that. Boys, this may take awhile to explain to him." 

"I hope you don't plan on leaving that task solely on the shoulders of the 'rookie'," said Zero, whose repairs had gone rather nicely. "I got him here, he's not my problem anymore." 

Sigma frowned. "Kid, how many times must I tell you? There is no such thing as 'Not my problem' with the Maverick Hunters. If one of us has a concern, then we all do. That is what's known as being a team." 

"You treat me like I have nothing but basic programming!" Zero angrily began. "Need I remind you that while I may be a 'rookie' to the Hunters, I'm centuries older than you? I was fighting Mavericks before you were ever assembled! Hell, I'm part of the reason you were even BUILT! DON'T treat me like a human!" 

"Um, I hate to interrupt, but could someone PLEASE tell me what I'm doing here?" 

Everyone turned to look at Mega Man, whom they'd forgotten about in the midst of the argument. Chill Penguin wanted to explain the details of the process of which Mega Man was brought back, but the meeting was interrupted by an alarm that indicated Mavericks on the move. The Hunters left in a big hurry, leaving only Dr. Cain and the bewildered Mega Man. The doctor tried to explain for Mega's benefit. 

"This may be hard to believe, my dear lad, but the year is 3021, and you are in the headquarters of the Maverick Hunters." 

Mega was more than a bit skeptical. "You're either crazy or joking." 

"I'm afraid it is neither. You see, the earthquake you were caught in somehow deactivated you. We were just able to find the exact place of the wreckage and restore you. If you still don't believe me about the time period, take a look outside." 

Mega Man complied, not wanting to believe the doctor's story, but all at the same time, wanting to think that he could still be of use if the time really was when he said. One look outside told him all that he needed to know about the doctor's sincerity. What he saw was a city of ruins, with blackened skies and crumbled remains of what must have once been skyscrapers. The faint cries of a dying child invaded Mega's range of hearing. The world outdoors could never have been that of the capitol city that he knew. This was an obviously war-torn land, and not even the most elaborate of mirages, tricks, or traps could replicate something like that. At least, not using 22nd century technology... 

"What happened? And..." Mega looked down and let out a noise not unlike a sigh. "How can I help?" 

Dr. Cain was pleased that Mega Man was finally ready to accept his fate. He began with the tale. 

"It all began a while after you were indisposed. Dr. Wily had finally reached the end of his life, and left his bots behind. They either gave up their evil ways willingly or were reprogrammed. The world thought it had peace. It was wrong. At the turn of the 27th century, a new virus plagued the world. This virus only affects robots, mutating their inner systems and turning them into the renegade Mavericks. There is no known cure, although some bots have proven themselves immune. No one knows where the virus originated, either. To protect the humans, groups of robots were created, called Maverick Hunters. I don't know the exact details, as all of this happened before I was born. No one is old enough to really remember. But it has begun to go too far. The Mavericks are increasing, and Hunters are all being either killed off, or infected. It's getting so that the only way any new bots can be created is in a home lab, as all of the factories have been turned into places solely used to create lesser bots to serve the Mavericks--and to deal with the Hunters. It is quite likely that you are immune to the virus, as robots with similar build have also proved unchanged by exposure." 

"But, if this virus is so unstoppable, what's the use of having me around?" asked Mega, obviously confused. "It's not likely that I can be of that much help, what with my little plasma blaster against this technology." 

"You still haven't realized your new weaponry, have you?", the small man began to pace as he talked. "I have equipped you with stronger armor, and also a stronger blaster. You can now charge up your blaster and make any weaponry which you have equipped up to ten times as strong as it would normally. When the Hunters get back, they'll bring with them the pieces of your new armor, which I have given them to ensure safekeeping. Your primary systems have been moved to less targetable areas, making you less vulnerable, in a way. The fact of the matter is, you are no longer just Mega Man. You are now Mega Man **_X_**" 

X had more questions, but they would have to wait for another time, as the alarm system activated suddenly. The base was somehow in danger. 

Dr. Cain grabbed his coat and ran out the door, telling X to follow him on the way. The two arrived at the main entrance to find Zero, battered and in a state of shock. 

"Dear boy, what's happened to you? Where are the other hunters?" Dr. Cain's face took on a worried frown. 

"Mav-Mavericks", Zero sputtered. "Virus unleashed... Turned on me...Barely got out alive..." 

"I don't get it." X began. "I thought that no bot could get out of that without being changed." 

Zero, in spite of his injuries, got to his feet. "I'm immune. That's how I've been around as long as I have." He turned his attention to the doctor. "Listen, is the new bot ready? We're the only ones left to fight the Mavericks, so I've got to start his training, weather I'm hurt or not. This is too important to put off." His face grew grave, as though he was remembering part of an unfavorable past. "Too many have already been lost to the madness." 

He turned to X. "By the way, my name's Zero. Welcome to the Maverick Hunters," he said without emotion.

* * * * * * * * * * * 

Zero led X to an open field, with large trees on either side. 

"This is the training field. I'll be monitoring your performance. Follow the path, and I'll meet you on the other end. Assuming you live." Zero turned and took another path, presumably another way to the end. X was on his own. 

_Well, this should be easy enough,_ X thought as he started on his way. _Just make it to the other side._ He was proven wrong just then, as a speeding projectile whizzed by his helmet. _WHOA! Maybe not. I'm forgetting where I am._ As he looked up, he saw that the projectile was shot by an enormous robot, that was at least twice his size. He tried a normal plasma blast, but it simply bounced off the mysterious bot. X called upon every trick he'd ever learned, every piece of fighting prowess he'd ever been taught, trying to come up with a suitable way to defeat this robot. It took all of his power just to not be obliterated by the bot's counterattacks. Then, X remembered that the Doctor told him that he could charge up his blaster. He concentrated a bit, and found that he could feel his power increasing. He waited until he could feel like he could hold no more power, and then released it, all at once. The bot was completely obliterated. 

_Whew! That bot was tough! And that was just the beginning. Who knows what else is waiting for me on this 'training' mission?_ Suddenly, the path seemed a whole lot longer. X worked his way through the forest with little further difficulties. Sure, there was that lumberjack sort of bot, but he reminded X of Wood Man, who he'd fought in one of his first adventures. The bot was defeated the same way as the original, by being hit when his shield went down. X could see the end clearly. _I'm almost out!_

"Do you really think you can replace me?" 

_These bots can't talk! _"Who is it?" inquired X. "Zero, is that you?" 

"Hardly. I wouldn't put my trust in the rookie, boy." A menacing looking bot with an evil smile looked over at X. "He's never been able to beat me in battle. You've picked the wrong side. I've been on both. I know. Soon, though, your point of view will change completely." The bot took out a vial containing something of a greenish tint. The bot uncorked it, and released a sort of gas. It caused X to choke and cough a little, but otherwise he was unchanged, although the immense pain it brought to him caused him to fall in a heap. 

"WHAT?! No change yet? You CAN'T be immune! NO!" determination glowed in his eyes. "Well, I'll just have to be rid of you the old fashioned way!" 

"Why not pick on someone your own size?" X looked up in time to see Zero standing near him. "Instead of the new bot." 

The nameless robot smirked. "And then who should I pick on? You, rookie?" 

"Sigma, I'm warning you..." 

_That's Sigma? He looked so different the last time I saw him. Does the virus really change bots so much? X thought. If I'm the last one, then no wonder Zero wants to protect me. But, in his weakened state, does he really stand a chance? _

"Has that virus taken away every shred of dignity ever programmed in you?" Zero took on a compassionate face. "You used to fight to PROTECT the humans, now you're no better than the bots we've fought in the past. What has the it done to you?" 

"It has given me a whole new insight", Sigma snarled. "It has shown me that humans are inferior to us robots, and that the only way to end their plague is to DESTROY them. I only wish that you could understand that as I do. I do not wish to harm another robot. But, if you are not an ally, then you are an enemy. Prepare to receive the same fate as those you foolishly protect!" 

Zero quieted down. "We'll see." 

X was hurt more than he had first thought, and he slipped in and out of consciousness as his power levels fluctuated. As the fight ensued, he caught glimpses of Zero and Sigma, laser sword to blaster, as they battled on. He saw Zero about to be blasted at a point-blank distance, and called out a warning to him. Then, there was a big explosion, and everything went dark.

* * * * * * * * * * * 

Zero couldn't believe how much stronger Sigma had gotten. Or, perhaps, it was only his injuries that slowed him down. Either way, he was going to need a miracle to beat him. 

He looked at X, but saw that he would be no help, as he was unconscious. _Poor bot,_ he stopped to think. _I know how hard it is to feel the burn of the virus for the first time. Why, if Proto hadn't... _His softness of robotic heart almost caused his destruction, though, because Sigma chose that moment to attack. 

"Zero!" a weak voice called. "Behind you!" 

Zero turned just in time to avoid the charged-up blast that Sigma fired at him. In less time than it takes to tell, he had fallen to the ground, and thrown a plasma grenade at him. _Good thing that Mavericks are more susceptible to plasma blasts in the first twelve hours of their creation,_ he thought. _That should put him under control for now. _

"AAHHHHH! My power! I'm getting weaker!" Sigma was fighting the pain with all his might. "But, you'll not defeat the new leader of the Mavericks that easily!" He struggled to his feet, and then turned on his jet blasters and flew away. Zero was too weak to follow him. Besides, there was no way he could leave X alone, at the mercy of the Mavericks.

* * * * * * * * * * * 

"X?.............Are you okay?........" X awoke with a headache. "Wha..?...Where? ...Is Zero okay?" 

Zero had to smile at the sight of his concern. "I'm fine, X. I'm right here." 

"But, I'm afraid that you're not quite as fine, X." Dr. Cain walked in, wiping oil off his gloves. "As it was your first exposure to the virus, your systems have been considerably weakened. You must rest while your body has time to identify the danger and create the proper defenses." 

"Then", Zero added, "you'll be ready to fight the Mavericks." 

"But first you must rest." insisted the doctor. "I'll leave you now."

X laid back in his chair. He turned to Zero. "Since I'm apparently going to be here for a while, why don't you tell me a little about yourself? About the past in general? There's still so much I don't understand." 

"All right. You deserve to know." Zero sat down and began his grim tale. "I'll start at the beginning, I guess. I was originally designed and built by your creator, Dr. Light, although I wasn't activated until after he was long dead. I was recovered at the beginning of the great war, when the virus was just starting to spread. We had no idea it would turn into what it did. The Mavericks were little to fear, merely worker bots and occasionally a security bot or two. We didn't think that the virus could possibly infect any of the stronger, protector bots. We were wrong. So very wrong. 

"Soon, almost all of the loyal protectors were infected, and had to be dealt with. The remainders of them, including myself, formed the first ever Maverick hunting team. The leaders of those Maverick Hunters were the only bots that were immune, Proto Man and Roll." 

"Wait, hold it!" X interrupted. "Roll, I understand. My sister was always eager to protect the humans, but PROTO MAN?! My BROTHER Proto Man? Dr. Wily's Second-in-Command Proto Man? The same Proto Man that tried to kill me on more occasions than I can count? THIS is the bot that was leading the good guys?!" 

"Yes. Proto was the best, despite his past sins. We were..." Zero stopped suddenly, as if he had said too much already. "What I mean is, he was the greatest warrior that we had against the Mavericks, until one destroyed him, and half of the team in the same battle." 

"That's horrible!" X exclaimed. "Who was it? Was it destroyed?" 

Zero obviously was uncomfortable. "Well, the bot wasn't exactly destroyed, but the danger has passed. It is no longer a threat to anyone. Proto's last act took care of that." Suddenly, he became extremely upset, it seemed. "SO CAN WE JUST LEAVE IT AT THAT?!" He got up and left in a fury. 

"Um, sure." _If robots could burst into tears, I'm sure that he would have by now,_ X thought. _If not killed me altogether in a rage. Wonder what has him so upset? And what does my turncoat tin can of a brother have to do with it? Ah, well...If I think about it too hard I'll burn out my RAM. Better just sit back and wait until I can be of use again._

A few hours later X was fully healed. He joined the rest of the "Team" in a large room, that looked like the conference rooms of office buildings from long ago. Zero, and Dr. Cain were there, along with a bunch of robots he'd never seen before. Zero looked like he'd gotten over his fury, and traded it for the utmost boredom, as he played with a strand of his waist-length golden hair while absently half-listening to some bot in gold armor. Dr. Cain greeted him at the door. 

"X, I'm glad you're here. We have a few visitors. They are other Maverick Hunters, from the southern town, Light City. Allow me to introduce Blast Hornet, Neon Tiger, Gravity Beetle, Volt Catfish, Blizzard Buffalo, Tunnel Rhino, and their leaders, Bit and Byte." 

The same tall, gold-plated bot that was talking to Zero stepped forward. "We've heard about the loss your Hunters have suffered. The Maverick plague in our city has been eliminated, as we are the best hunters in the world..." Zero rolled his eyes in disgust. "...And I saw that." The bot went on. "We came to help, fill the void, as it is. My name is Bit, and this.." He gestured towards a similar looking bot with silver plating. "...is my brother, Byte. We were assembled by Dr. Doppler, the greatest genius to ever grace this planet..." More faces from Zero showed that he disliked these bots, or at least Bit, to say the very least. This time it went unnoticed, though, as Bit was too engulfed in talking about himself to pay any attention to the other, 'lesser' beings that stood before him. "We were specially created to fight the Maverick menace, and I'm sure I don't have to tell you this, as you've most likely heard the stories of our mythic exploits, but we have all but totally wiped out all the Mavericks within a thousand-mile radius of our home town." 

Zero leaned over and whispered to X. "Don't pay any attention to the windbag over there, X. I was there when 'he' defeated all those Mavericks within that thousand mile radius. There were forty, at absolute most. He's too busy wallowing in his own fantasies to remember that Sigma and his hunters were the ones who helped them out when those thirty something bots came looking for him, and also how he literally got down on his metallic hands and knees to beg for us to help him before he was destroyed." He chuckled at the memory. "Bit's a big wuss, but no one's ever been able to convince him of that. That 'miracle worker' creator of his gave him just a bit too much self-confidence. Byte, the one in the silver over there, is a much better fighter, with a lot less ego. Thing is, he's really quiet, so he mostly lets his brother do all the talking." 

He turned to the group. "Listen up, everyone!" he called. "You too, pretty bot." he said to Bit, who returned his taunt with a glare. _Geez,_ X thought. _Zero acts like a human child around this bot. It's so far from the self-confident, serious to all extents robot that I've known until now. What's with the two of them?_ Zero continued. "Okay, thanks a lot for your help. You'll be a great asset in the fight against our former allies." He made a gesture to Dr. Cain, signaling to him. The doctor flipped a switch, and a map appeared behind the bot. "Okay, now, there are a lot of new Mavericks to contend with, but we also can't forget about the older Mavericks who are still out there. We're going to split up into three groups. Blast, Neon, and Gravity, you guys are in charge of this area", he said, while pointing at the map behind him. "Volt, Blizzard, and Tunnel, you get these eight territories. X, Byte, and, unfortunately, Bit, you're with me. We get to take on some of my former team. Our path also leads up to the fortress that Sigma has erected to himself. We're in charge of bringing him down. Okay, people! You have your jobs! Get to them!" 

The six robots left on their new missions. Zero and his group would have left as well, but Bit stopped them. "Just what do you think you were doing just then?" He demanded. "Commanding MY troops?! Look, Buster--" 

"We've discussed this, Bit. DON'T YOU DARE CALL ME 'BUSTER'!!!!!!!!" Zero, in his anger, revealed his arm cannon and blasted Bit, square in the chest, sending him flying. 

X turned to Byte. "What's with them?" 

"They used to be friends." Byte replied. "Or, at least, until He, well... Bit blamed Zero what happened, even though there was nothing either one of them could have done." His face seemed to turn an even deeper shade of blue than it already was, in embarrassment for his brother's actions. "Yeah, my brother's got a lot of nerve, acting like that so soon after his loss..." 

X was surprised at the comment Byte had made. "What loss? What's the big thing with Zero?" 

"Oh, I thought you knew about Proto Man and Zero. History says that you were his brother and all." When X gave him a look that plainly stated that it was a sensitive subject, Byte dropped it and answered the question. "The two were such close friends, you'd need to a blowtorch to separate them. If you could have just seen the way they bonded... But then he died, and Zero took it the hardest, because he mostly blamed himself. I mean, who wouldn't, considering the circumstances... It didn't make it any easier to cope with his loss, when almost every robot out there also blamed him. Everyone loved Proto. I don't blame them, really, even though I don't agree. Any bot would be crazy to not think that, ever since then, he's had this perpetually sour exterior. But once you get to know him, he can be nice, and compassionate, and..." he trailed off. _Whoa._ X thought. _Bots sure have taken on a lot of human characteristics since I was last around. I'm starting to wonder if I'm affected like that, too, as part of my new 'enhancements'. I guess I'll find out sooner or later._

Zero looked down at Bit. "Get up. We've got work to do." 

* * * * * * * * * * * 

The group soon found themselves outside of a large fortress. Zero faced them. "All right. This is the base where the Mavericks are hiding out. It has separate territories inside it, each controlled by an individual Maverick. Our group is in charge of taking care of Chill Penguin, Storm Eagle, Sting Chameleon, and lastly, Sigma himself. X, you and Byte are going to be the front line. You guys can take care of the frontal assault. Bit and I will take care of the enemies out here, and then we'll follow you and make sure that you don't get hit with any back attacks." 

"Okay", said X. "Come on, Byte." 

Zero stopped them. "Wait, X! I almost forgot to give this to you." He pulled out a set of boots. "This is your acceleration system. It's part of your new armor that Dr. Cain gave to us Hunters for safekeeping. These boots will allow you to sprint, and also stop short, by affecting the magnetic pull that these floors have on metallic things, such as yourself. These also give you the ability to fly for very short distances, by using something like rocket boosters. As you defeat the Mavericks in there, you'll probably come across the rest of your armor." 

X smiled as he accepted the gift. "Thank you. For everything." 

"No problem." Zero told him. "You're my only teammate, really, and I'm going to keep you safe no matter what." When he lingered, searching for a response to that, Zero grew impatient. "Now GO, before I change my mind and slice you in half right now!" 

X turned towards the place where he was going to fight the Mavericks. It was a huge fortress, Dark and, well, spooky. He was beginning to wonder whether or not it was such a great idea to go in there, and started to tell Zero so, but when he looked back, he could see that he had concerns of his own. 

* * * * * * * * * * * 

Zero was sort of surprised when the battle began._ Much as I hate to admit it, _he thought, _Bit's a pretty good fighter. Maybe I don't give him enough credit._

"Look at this one, dude!" Bit was attempting to show off by trying to destroy a bat-bot without even glancing at his target. Zero was a little annoyed._ Then again..._

"'Dude' is no better than 'buster', and you know that!" With that, Zero raised his arm cannon and fired a shot that was heading for Bit's head. He ducked, revealing the Bat-Bot that was planning a sneak attack behind him. The plasma blast hit it square in the wing, destroying it completely.

"Always watch your enemy." Zero took on the tone he used when training, stoic and hard-edged. "You don't want them to be able to sneak up behind you." 

"Always lookin' out for me, eh, dude--er, bus--Um... pal?" 

"Pal's okay, you jerk." Zero smirked. 

* * * * * * * * * * * 

X took a look at his surroundings. He was at the first area on the map, Chill Penguin's domain. True to his name, Chill's territory was an icy fortress. From what X could see, the holographic projection Chill had chosen was that of an arctic region, mostly outdoors, although X could slightly see a cave far up ahead. He turned to Byte and motioned for him to follow. The two barely walked three feet before they were attacked by robotic objects that resembled rabbits, in a way. They were small, with a poor manufacturing job done on them, as the bolts holding their legs on (they had no arms) were much too large, not only hindering their movement, but also causing their limbs to be in extreme danger of very well falling off. 

_You have got to be kidding me._ X thought._ THIS fluff is the 'great danger' that I was warned about? THIS is why I was unearthed after thousands of years? Bots of the future are either real wimps, or scaredey-- _

"X, be on your guard", Byte said to him. "They may not look like much, but don't be fooled. The Mavericks are well-known for their tricks. There is no way of knowing exactly what they're capable of." He readied his arm cannon. 

_Yeah, right. I'm going to believe that. _

Suddenly, one of the rabbit creatures jumped up at X, fangs bared. _Wait... These things have FANGS!_ It lodged itself onto his shoulder. Its legs had fallen off. 

"X, didn't I warn you?" Byte exclaimed, as he blasted the other bots. 

"Get this thing off of me! Why won't you blast it?!" 

"I can't." Byte told him sorrowfully. "I tried to warn you about this breed. They are a kind of vampire bots. The fool hapless hunters with their shabby appearance, and then find a way to attach themselves to their victims. They're energy suckers, and they drain their victims until they're nothing but empty shells. I'd blast it off of you, but the massive energy outburst that would ensue would most certainly result in an explosion big enough to destroy you, me, and everything within a mile radius."

"Wonderful", X said sarcastically. "So, what now? I just let this thing drain me?" 

"Well, that remains to be seen. The only way the vamp-bots have ever been removed is at the will of the Maverick who leads them, in this case Chill Penguin." 

"Great. So what, I go up and ask him real politely, 'hey, Chill, buddy, what say you stop shooting at me for a few minutes and call off your bot. Yeah, that's right, the one that's been succeeding at your main goal of destroying me.'" X shot a look at Byte. "Somehow, I don't quite think that'll wor--ugh!" 

Byte caught X as he collapsed from the sudden energy drain. "X, your programming can't tolerate this thing.," he said. "It'd probably be a good idea for you to power down for a while. The vamp-bot won't be able to suck your plasma power as much if you don't use as much to stay functioning." 

"I don't know about that," X was a bit concerned. "How will you be able to get through the rest of the area, not only alone, but dragging along an unconscious bot?" 

Byte gave him an assuring look. "Don't worry. I'll manage." 

X suffered another drain. Byte grew more and more worried. "Do it now, X!" 

"A-all right.," X conceded, reaching for his switch. "Look after yourself, okay?" 

"Sure." 

Then, as he turned himself down to low-power maintenance, everything slowly faded to black. 

* * * * * * * * * * *

"Zero! Behind you!" 

Zero barely had time to dodge the blast. 

"Thanks, Bit," he said as he finished off the bot that fired at him. "I owe you one." 

Bit shrugged and smiled. "It was nothing", he said. 

"Well, that was the last one out here." Zero pointed towards the entrance to the fortress. "Let's see if we can't help our buddies in there now." 

Bit smiled. "Sure." 

Zero wasn't watching as his eyes glowed an unearthly color. _We'll help, all right. Help them to their destruction, you mean. _

* * * * * * * * * * *

"X? How're you feeling?" 

X slowly awoke, painfully aware of the bot still gripping to his shoulder. "Lousy. Where are we?" 

Byte looked around. "Well, it appears that we're directly outside Chill's hideout. I figured, if we're going to free you, you'd best be awake while we do it." 

It was then that X became aware of Byte's physical appearance. His normally silver armor was tarnished, and many holes had been blown into him. The poor bot had probably been through hell and back, and he was still standing, smiling even. X had to admire that. 

"Let's go." 

Byte pushed a button on the wall beside him, and a room suddenly appeared in front of them. "After you, X." 

X entered, and saw a plain room with a robot standing in the corner, obviously Chill Penguin. He, too, had changed since X last saw him. He looked more like a real penguin now, except that he had grown tubes linking him to a sort of back pack, possibly a battery of some sort. 

"I had supposed it would be only a matter of time until you came, Hunters," said Chill. He had an icy tone to his voice. "But, two to one? Unfair odds. Allow me to even things out a little." 

With a stare, a ray was released from Chill. X was quick enough to dodge it, but Byte, in his weakened state, wasn't as lucky. Instantly, he was frozen in a block of ice. _Oh, man. I am so screwed._ X thought fearfully. _Oh, well. Nothing to lose by trying. _

X started his attack with a barrage of plasma blasts aimed squarely at Chill's chest. They bounced off as soon as they hit. _Great. Just great. Now what? _

In another moment, X would have answered his own question, and, given enough time, found a way to totally destroy the Maverick. He would have, except that he had all but forgotten about the Vamp-bot still hanging from his shoulder, which chose that moment to strike. 

"Oh, I hadn't expected that you would have been bitten by one of my Vamp-bots, Hunter." Chill smiled in a sickly way, totally enjoying X's pain. "That's one of the oldest tricks in the book. Didn't that weakling of a Hunter Zero teach you ANYTHING?!" He laughed, and it seemed to X that the room grew ten degrees colder. But, as much as he wanted to fly at him in a rage, X stayed still, plotting his movements. _If I go ballistic and rush in without a plan, he'll fry me for sure._ He thought._ I've got to calm myself down, and keep my wits about me. If I get taken out in my first real fight, the whole future of humanity is lost. Zero, Dr. Cain... They really believe in me. I'm not going to let them down. I've got decades of battle seasoned training to call upon._ He recalled the training session, with the lumberjack bot that reminded him of Wood Man. _Old tactics still seem to work on these guys. _X began to search his memory banks._ I must have fought someone like this, once in my time. Wily thought of everything possible in the form of destruction bot... _

Imput: Cold Terrain. Freeze ray. Agile. 

He wished he had more information to call upon, but, never having seen Chill fight, there was no way to know anything else. _I may have to find out the hard way, though._ He thought to himself. _Chill's itching for a fight, and he's getting more and more impatient by the second. _After a few seconds of searching, X came across a list of old enemies that fit the description. 

After scanning it briefly, X thought, _Well, that should give me enough information to get me through this fight, or at least until I've fought him long enough to make my own observations on his style._ X began charging up his blaster while reviewing the information. 

"What are you doing just standing there?", Chill was growing more and more impatient. "I thought it was your goal to destroy all of us before we destroy humankind, am I correct?" When X didn't answer the Maverick became more angry. "Can you even hear me, Hunter?!" 

"I can hear you just fine, Maverick." calmly stated Mega Man X. "Just preparing." 

"For what?" the Maverick asked suspiciously. 

"For..." X jumped into the air and began his attack. "...THIS!!!!!!!!!!!" From his momentary aerial assault, X could gain an angle that was impossible to defend against, and released the plasma blast he'd been charging. It hit the Maverick with incredible force, and knocked him into the nearest wall. 

"So, you do have some fight in you, after all," Chill Penguin chuckled smugly. "Maybe this won't be as boring as I thought it would be." He looked up at the ceiling, and a crane came down. "Lets make it even more interesting." 

Chill climbed onto the crane, and it took him upwards, until he was at a similar angle that X was at. X began to panic. _Okay... They've never done this before... _Chill was slowly aiming his freeze ray at his target. _What now?????? _The thought came to him a bit late, though, as Chill took that moment to fire. X, in his panic to dodge, jumped straight up, at least fifty feet. _How the HELL did I do that?_ Instead of falling those fifty feet, though, he found himself actually sticking to the wall closest to him. _What is going on? How am I doing this? Then, it dawned on him. "These boots give you the ability to fly for very short distances, by using something like rocket boosters."_ Zero had told him. _Maybe, this 'acceleration system' of mine also enables me to magnetically stick to walls. Or something like that. Well,_ he thought, _best to take advantage of my newfound power. _With that realization, X, still on the wall, could get a clear shot at Chill, who was still on the crane. _I don't have time to charge up, though... Aw, who cares? That never stopped me before! _X began a barrage of firepower, until his plasma reserves were almost depleted. Chill was knocked from his pedestal and onto the ground. 

When X finally let up, Chill Penguin gave only one command. "Do it now." The pain was indescribable to X as the Vamp-Bot depleted his energy tanks. He lost his grip on the wall, and plummeted to the ground. He landed, and didn't rise. Then Chill turned to the frozen Byte. 

"So, Hunter," he gloated. "It seems as though your protégé has been disposed of. Too bad. I remember you being a better fighter than this. Have my traps really weakened you that much, or have you just gotten soft?" He chuckled. "Listen to me. I'm talking as if you could hear me within that block of ice. Lets bring you out so I can play some more." With his huge beak, Chill broke the ice block, leaving a shivering and fairly bewildered Byte behind. 

"You've been a bother to me since we've first met, you and that pompous brother of yours," Chill stated bitterly. "I've been waiting a long time for the chance to destroy you." 

The Maverick was so busy gloating that he didn't notice the charged-up blast that hit him in the backside and knocked the last of his energy out of him. There was also no way for him to see X rise from his spot and move over to the unconscious Maverick. 

_I almost feel sorry for the bot,_ X thought sadly. _He never really had a choice. All he ever wanted was to defend humans from the Mavericks, now he's part of the problem. What a way to 'recruit' new members. _

Byte walked over to X. "Stand back a little," he said. "You don't want to be too close when the virus leaves." As he said that, Chill's body shook with tremendous force, and a black cloud rose out of him. 

X was shocked, to say the least. "I-Is that the virus?" He asked. 

Byte nodded. X walked over to the body. Chill spoke to him. 

"M-Mega Man? You've been activated all right?" X nodded. "That's great. I've been given something for you." He took off his chest plate. "This is yours. It'll strengthen your defenses, and you won't be as susceptible to attacks from things like that Vamp-bot. Speaking of which," he sputtered a bit, "allow me to remove that." He gave a mental command, and the offending parasite was instantly removed. It fell limply to the ground. " also, let me give you another gift." He grabbed X's arm and gave the Hunter his Freeze Gun. "I won't be needing it where I'm going." He coughed and continued weakly. "My time is short, so just let me wish you luck, in everything. Let me also tell you that... I'm sorry for all the wrong I've done. And I'm sure the others are too, deep down, under the virus." His systems shut down, all at once. 

Byte walked over to them and placed a comforting hand on X's shoulder. "Too late, X. He's gone." 

"So that's why the virus is so feared," X said gravely. He turned to Byte. "Let's go on to the next area. There's nothing else to do here." 

* * * * * * * * * * * 

Byte knew that he shouldn't have accepted the assignment when it was given to him. He knew it was going to be hard, that he would probably get too attached to him. But Bit just had to have his way. _"It'll be so easy," _he had said._ "And I'll finally get revenge on that son of a bitch Zero for killing Proto!" _

_Oh, but I tried to calm him down, I really did._ Byte tried to assure himself. _But, for some reason, I can't say no to him. What's wrong with me? Why can't I stand up to my own brother? Now I've gotten hooked up into this whole traitorous campaign, and I'm finding out that this X guy is a really good robot. He was just sort of thrown into this whole thing, kind of like me. I don't want to betray him. He really trusts in me, even allowing himself deactivated in enemy territory. I don't want to let him down now._

"X?" Byte began. X stopped his walking to answer. "What is it?" 

"Well," Byte said, "I was just thinking, and I started wondering about something."

"Wondering about what?"

"Um, I don't quite know how to phrase this..." 

X smiled at his obvious uncomfortableness. "Try me." 

"Well, have you ever been....betrayed? Like by a friend?" 

X's face immediately lost its smile. It took him a while to answer. "Yes. Once, a very long time ago, by my very own brother, Proto Man. We had only been assembled a few days before Proto met Dr. Wily. Wily somehow convinced Proto that robots were superior to humans, and that humans should be our slaves. Maybe he fooled around with Proto's programming; that, I'll never know. But he turned on me, started serving Wily and fighting for his dream. Our creator, Dr. Light, rebuilt me into a warrior bot, just so I could stop my brother and his comrades. We fought for decades on opposing sides. Every once in a while, though, I got the feeling that Proto really did want to be on the same side as me, deep down inside somewhere. He would constantly try to convince me to join him, and on a few occasions, he actually tried to reprogram me himself." He paused for a moment, as if unsure as to what to say next. "I was deactivated before I could ever tell him how, in spite of it all, I really did love him. Just for being my brother." As an afterthought, he added quietly, "How he possibly became leader of the early Maverick Hunters, I'll never understand." 

_Wow, _Byte thought. _The poor bot's been through a lot. Now I feel even worse about what I'm going to have to do... _

* * * * * * * * * * * 

_What possessed me to tell him all that? _X wondered. _Maybe its because he's just been so kind, so understanding. Its as though I could trust him with my safety, with my very life, as I already have. But, why would he even ask such a question? I get the feeling that there's more to Byte than he lets on._

The pair soon came upon the next area, Storm Eagle's. From what he could see from his position, X noticed that the hologram that Storm had chosen for his area looked very much like an airport. "Well", Bit said to X, "Let's get going." X nodded in agreement. They soon came across a large upwards rising tunnel, with small platforms on either side. 

X turned to Bit. "We're going to have to jump it," and proceeded to do so. Bit had to struggle a bit in order to catch up. When they reached the top platform, they could see a long way ahead of them. X noticed an open area, followed by a room of some sort, like a greenhouse. He couldn't see anything after that. 

As they began their journey, the two Hunters soon found themselves under attack again. This time, the robots looked like birds of prey, with long legs and sharp, really pointy beaks. Since the incident in Chill's lair, X wasn't taking any chances with these, and blasted them to bits as soon as they came within range of his radar. They came in droves, one after another, like Lemmings, almost eager to be destroyed. 

After the robots had been demolished, Byte and X found themselves maneuvered farther into the realm of Storm Eagle. They were inside the room X noted earlier, which was a small, glass-filled room with nothing but a few tanks marked DA. Byte started blasting into the air. 

"What are you doing, Byte?" X asked curiously. "There's nothing here." Byte didn't respond, he just kept shooting. Finally, he hit one of the tanks, which blew up, and, after the dust cleared, revealed a smaller tank, which glowed with a reddish tint, and another, similarly sized one, with a yellow glow. X's eyes nearly bulged out of his head.

"W--W--W--What're those???" Byte merely looked at X, and walked over to the two tanks. "This," he began, pointing to the yellow tank, "is an energy tank. It works like a recharge to your power when you run low. This one", he pointed to the red one this time, "is a sub-tank. It recharges any additional weaponry, like that gun you got from Chill Penguin." 

X smiled. "That's great! Give me one of those!" 

Byte could merely shake his head in a way that clearly said "_Gimme strength_!". "I really wouldn't advise you to use those now. The Mavericks don't give second chances, and you don't want to run out of energy fighting one of them, now do you?" 

"Um, I guess not." X, feeling rather sheepish, tried his best to change the subject. "So, where to next? I mean, I don't exactly see a way out of here, and we can't go back..." 

"You're right..." Byte looked around, scanning for...something, when he stopped at an area in the floor and blasted a hole through it. "Here is the exit. After you" 

* * * * * * * * * * * 

"BIT!!! WATCH OUT!!!!" 

Zero pushed him to the side just as the blast was about to hit his chest, and took the shot for him. This left him practically helpless, as the wound was pretty severe. He fell to the ground, and the bots they were fighting took advantage of this, targeting his wounded body. 

_He risked his life for me.... _The realization of this was almost too much for him to bear. _I could've died, and he saved me... I should save him in turn. But... Doppler said... and he... and I thought... but..._

".... help.... me.... Bit...." Zero called weakly. 

_That does it! I'm going to help him!_ Bit yelled out a war cry, and entered the battle, with a new outlook formed. 

* * * * * * * * * * * 

When the Hunters next saw the light of surface ground, they left the confines of the passage they were traveling in. The thing X immediately noted was the big metal door in front of them. Byte pushed a tile in the wall, and the door opened. Byte entered, and motioned for X to follow. 

_It's quiet. Too quiet._ X thought while he walked. _Like the calm before the storm. Why do I get the feeling that this won't be as easy as Chill was? _

The first thing about this room that was noticeable is that there was a lack of a floor in most places, leaving only a few square feet of space for ground movement. A voice greeted them. 

"So, you Hunters have made it this far. How brave of you. How utterly FOOLISH!" 

A glance skyward showed a large bot gliding down towards them. 

"Storm Eagle, I presume." X commented. 

"Oh, brilliant deduction, Hunter. Didja figure that out yourself, or did you have smiley over there helpin' ya?" Storm mocked the bot standing expressionless beside X. 

"Cut the crap, Maverick." Byte started in on him. "Let's get this fight over with. I want to be back in time for a quick recharge before I have to deal with your wimp friends."

X charged his blaster and fired at Storm, who jumped out of the way and returned the shot with one of his own. X jumped out of the way as well, giving Byte the blunt of the blow. He staggered backward, but soon regained his footing and resumed his attack. Back and forth, the three fought for minutes, neither side gaining or losing any ground. It was all Byte and X could do to hold their position, and not slip up. But, they all knew that one mistake would mean their destruction. 

_Got to keep fighting. Got to win. Can't let up. Got to beat him. I wish Roll and Rush were here. They were always good for moral support in times like these. But, by now, they're probably... _

X's thoughts gave him just the distraction Storm had been waiting for. When X became so lost in thought that he lowered his guard, he went in for the kill. 

X saw a flash of light, and heard a loud crash, then the blackest darkness... 

* * * * * * * * * * * 

"How did we get so far off track?" Zero wondered as he called up the map of the area on his screen. "It looked as though we were going straight... maybe it was that left turn... Bit, can you see where we went off course?" 

_Dammit, I wish I could tell him! I truly do! But... Doppler told me to... and I can't go against his will... _

"Bit?" 

"Huh?"

"I asked you a question." 

"Oh, um... well..."_ Please God don't make me do this!!! _He let his voice drop to an almost inaudible level. "Maybe if you check around the corner there you'll find something." _Zero... Please forgive me. _

Zero turned and followed Bit's directions.

_Why does he pick now of all times to listen to me? _Bit's internal struggle went on. _Stop!!! Don't!!!_ his mind cried out, but his lips remained shut. 

Zero rounded the corner... 

And found nothing. 

_Huh? But I was told that there would be... _

*You were not misinformed, Bit, if that is what you were contemplating. I am merely biding my time...* 

_How are you talking to me? _

*Didn't that fool Doppler explain anything to you? Leave it to a human... Anyway, he equipped you with a psychic converter of sorts that lets us Mavericks communicate with you without the Hunters listening in. I'm lying in wait about five meters westward from your current position. Get the Hunter there and I'll take it from there.* 

_Uh... Okay._

*And stop thinking all those treacherous thoughts. It tends to not be so great for your health, if you catch my drift...* 

"Bit? Is something wrong?" Zero looked concerned. 

"No. Nothing at all. Follow me, I think I've found something." 

* * * * * * * * * * * 

"X!!! You'll pay for that, Maverick!!!" Byte furiously attacked Storm. X was dead. And there was going to be hell to pay. 

* * * * * * * * * * * 

"Hello, Hunter. I am Sting Chameleon." 

Zero spun around. "Where are you?" 

"Good question. You see, I possess the ability to change myself to suit my surroundings... But, you already knew that. I can be anywhere, anything..." 

A shape appeared before him, taking the form of a tall robot. Color came in, and it was quite noticeable of the red motif... 

"Proto--" he choked out a whisper. "Can it be?" 

"Yes." Proto Man answered coldly. 

"What's wrong?" 

"You killed me. You know you did. Now, I must return the favor!" Proto lunged at Zero, who was too shocked to dodge. 

He just stood there, motionless, in a state of disbelieving shock while 'Proto Man' beat him within an inch of his life.

_Proto.. No... Not my friend... This isn't happening... Proto wouldn't do this... No... Not real... _

"Damn it, Zero! Snap out of it! I can't help you this time!" Bit called futily from the sidelines. 

Zero got pummeled some more, until a thought came to him. _Proto's dead. I know where the body's buried. I put him there myself. I didn't kill him, he gave up his life to save me. And, having done that, he'd never attack me!_ His eyes narrowed. 

"Screwing around with my emotions, Sting? Big mistake. Now, you're going to get it." He pulled out his laser sword and began to slice the Chameleon into pieces. 

* * * * * * * * * * * 

Byte stood over Storm Eagle's body. The virus left him, but he was too weak to give a deathbed speech as Chill had done. Byte didn't care. He saw to X, and pulled out an energy tank. 

"Here, X. I just hope it's not too late to be giving you this." 

Seconds passed. Then minutes. After what seemed like an eternity, X opened his eyes. 

"So what did I miss?" 

Byte said nothing, but shoved a helmet in X's general direction and indicated for him to put it on. X had all of his armor now. 

* * * * * * * * * * * 

Zero stood over the pieces of what was once Sting Chameleon and turned to Bit. 

"Okay, time for the lame excuse as to why you didn't help me out there?" 

Bit shrugged nervously. "Well, I would have, but I merely wanted to test you. Y'know, make sure you're capable of handling Sigma. I can't always be there to save your sorry butt." He chuckled nervously, praying that he believed him. 

Zero didn't feel like fighting. "Good enough. Now let's see if we can get back where we're supposed to be." 

* * * * * * * * * * * 

X and Byte kept walking, for what seemed like forever, when they came to a fork in the road, and were wondering which path to choose. 

_Damn it, Zero! _X thought sourly. _The least you could have done was give me a map!_ He immediately regretted thinking that, though. _What am I thinking? Zero and Byte seem to be my only friends here. Zero once said he'd do anything to protect me. I wonder just how much is covered under "anything"._

His pondering was cut short, as Zero and Bit stepped out from one of the corridors. They were arguing, as usual. 

"See?" Bit was gloating. "I told you that if we went this way we'd find the others. It's all due to MY brilliant navigational skills!" Zero was silent, and had an annoyed look on his face. He brightened, though, when he saw X and Byte, and realized that he no longer had to tolerate Bit alone. 

After a short greeting, the group continued down the remaining corridor. Bit and Byte lagged behind and discussed something X couldn't hear. He wanted to eavesdrop, but any way that would get him close enough would also get him noticed. It sounded important, though. 

At the end of the hall, there was an elevator. No one had to say anything. They all knew that they had no choice in a path. They also knew that this was going to be the beginning of the end. The only thing in question was the victor. They entered the room. 

As it started to rise, a voice could be heard, presumably over a loudspeaker. It was Sigma. 

"Good show, boys. Quite frankly, I'm surprised you made it this far. I'd be proud, if I wasn't so disappointed. Bit, Byte, you've failed me miserably." 

X's and Zero's faces showed their surprise. "They're _traitors_?" 

Byte quickly tried to explain. "It's not what you think! We were supposed to befriend you, and then betray you. But we weren't going to! I swear! You two showed us that we can surpass our programming and go against our creator! Please, believe me." His eyes pleaded even more than his mouth did. 

The voice bellowed again. "I knew I never should have left you with free will. That is a mistake I will not repeat." 

The elevator was then flooded with the very same green gas that X had learned to associate with the Maverick Virus. _But, we're all immune here. Unless... Oh, no. _

"Bit! Byte!" X called out. He wished he had some sort of advice for them, some kind of comforting thing to tell them. But, he was built as a warrior bot, and tact wasn't one of his strong points. 

Not that it would have done much of a difference. The two had already dropped down to their knees, choking and coughing. But it didn't stop there. They were changing, morphing, into different, more evil looking creatures. Bit became slimmer, and his armor grew more durable, and Byte expanded, and soon it was difficult to tell that they had ever possessed their previous forms. They rose, and were about to attack the remaining Hunters, but the voice spoke yet again. 

"No! I want them to proceed to the graveyard. You will see them again. That is, if they even make it. Now, come! We have work to do!" 

And, a moment later, the two new Mavericks were teleported away. X looked at Zero. 

"Now what?" 

Zero looked downward and whispered, "I don't know, X. I really don't know." 

Soon the two were off the elevator, and back outside. There was a lot of dirt, and some stone formings here and there. Zero looked upset for some reason, and muttered, 

"Sigma, you miserable psycho, why'd you bring us here?" He seemed to answer his own question. "Of course. To see me squirm." 

"Zero, what's wrong with this place?" X wondered. "It's just some dirt and rocks." He picked up a few pebbles and began to juggle. 

Zero quickly became alarmed for some reason. 

"DON'T DO THAT!!!!!!!!!" 

X, startled, dropped the pebbles. "What? Why?" 

"Perhaps I should explain." An affirmative nod from X proved Zero's suspicions. 

"This is The Graveyard. It's where we Hunters bury our dead." He started walking around, gesturing to things as he went. "These are the graves of Elec Man, Air Man, Omega Prime, C-Scan, Anglo, Rector, Violen, Serges, Ventar, Antaro, Scantro, Morphus, and," he stopped as he got to a secluded area of the place. "This is where only the most honored are buried. Here you would find Roll, Rush, Dr. Light, and... Proto Man." He led X behind a curtain, and into a well-lit room, with portraits of X, the way he used to be, when he was just Mega Man, fighting Wily. Each grave had a carefully sculpted life-size statue of the deceased on it. They were only there for a few seconds, when a hologram appeared before them. 

"P-Proto Man?" X sputtered. He was under the impression that Proto was dead. 

"Hello. And what brings us here today, Buddy?" The hologram asked.

"I came to share some disturbing news with you. Perhaps you can help." Zero said. 

"I'll try my best. I always do. So what's up?" 

"You may recognize the bot behind me. This is Mega Man X. I believe the two of you know each other." 

The Proto-hologram rubbed his eyes. "Mega? Bro? Is it really you?" 

"I could have asked the same of you." X said cautiously. 

"Oh, I'm sorry. I do admit, under the circumstances, it seems pretty impossible that I'd be here, doesn't it?" The Proto-hologram apologized. "Well, you see, what happened was, after I d--" Zero shot him a look. "--Had my unfortunate accident, Zero projected my consciousness onto this holographic image, and set it up here. He comes by and talks to me every now and then. I'm not active unless he's around. But, Mega! It's so good to see you! I never did get to tell you how sorry I was for... that whole Wily incident."

"Yeah. I really don't understand that." X went on. "I thought I left myself enough time to get out. I suppose I was wrong." 

Proto looked embarrassed. "Well... You see, you would have had enough time. I'm kind of the one who deactivated you."

"What?!" X and Zero exclaimed simultaneously. 

"Proto, how could you?"

"I know why!" X got angry all of a sudden. "It's because this 'Great Hero' everyone based this future over is a sham! He's just as bad as all of those Mavericks out there! We're in the middle of a war, and the only help he can give us is to sit there and act as some old wise man!" 

Zero's hand struck X's face with a resounding **_*crack*_**. 

"How DARE you talk to Proto like that? I don't care if I have to fight all by myself, but I won't work with someone who's that disrespectful to him!"

Proto Man interrupted. "Please, Zero. Control yourself. Mega has his rights to be suspicious of me. I have done some pretty terrible things to him. But..." Making a realization, he paused. "What was that about you having to fight alone? I thought you joined Sigma?"

Zero took on his sad, lone fighter persona again. "Well, you made it so that I couldn't be hurt by the virus again." 

Proto understood. "So the newbies went Maverick, eh? Can't say I'm surprised. They were too energetic, like you used to be, Zero. That was their downfall. If they weren't in such a hurry to destroy the Mavericks, they wouldn't have ended up the way they did." 

Zero shrugged. "Guess they ended up like I did too, huh?" 

X just sat there, looking for an explanation but afraid to ask for one. Zero noticed this.

"Sorry, X. I guess you need to know what's going on." He dropped his head, as though ashamed of himself. "I was once a Maverick myself, because I was too young and inexperienced." He waited for X's shock to subside. "I was too powerful for my own good. I destroyed many of the bots out there, and all of the ones in here. Roll and Rush tried to stop me, but got taken out early on. Proto finally knocked some sense into me, but it was too late to do any good. The virus had already destroyed my insides. There was no way for me to live. Proto wouldn't allow it. He repaired me, using himself for replacement parts. It left me immune, as he was, and him on his deathbed." He buried his face in his hands. "It's all my fault." He muttered it over and over. "My fault." 

X tried his best to comfort Zero, while Proto said nothing. 

"What's wrong with you?" X scolded his brother. "You're so 'good' now, but you don't even care how Zero feels! He must get like this every time he thinks of you, but you do nothing to help him!" 

"Well what am I supposed to do?!" Proto Man shot back. "Nothing I can do will change anything! I'm DEAD, X! Do you have any idea what that's like? Sure, I'd like to be able to tell him not to feel bad, that nothing really went wrong, that I'm happier like this. But I'm not. It's like being trapped! I try to make the best about the situation, but, after all these years, I'm just looking for a way to really end it all! My body's gone, but my mind's alive, and I can't take it anymore! But Zero refuses to delete this stupid program holding me here!" Zero looked up for a moment, his eyes filled with sorrow. 

"You really want me to let you go?" 

"Yes." 

"Then," Zero began typing furiously on a nearby keyboard. "So be it. The program will be deleted soon." He stared at his best friend. "I'm sorry, Proto. I really am." He pushed DEL and whispered, "Good-bye."

"Good Luck." Proto's fading image said. 

And then, he was gone.

Zero took one last, long look at The Graveyard, and both he and X knew the next time he would set foot in it was when he was buried there. 

The next change of scenery brought them to a sparkling white computer room. 

_Jeez, I know what's going to happen! _X's adventures always ended with a big fight in a computer room, or some other place amazingly similar to one. He decided to face this one head on. 

"All right, Sigma!" He called. "I know you're there somewhere! Let's just get this fight over with already!"

"Sigma's not here, Hunter. At least, not yet."

_I know that voice! No... Not him! _

"Bit! Come out here, you coward!"

_Guess Zero knows that voice, too. _

Bit burst into the room, followed by Byte. They had both gotten several attachments to themselves since X had last seen them. They also looked tons more powerful, even though X couldn't figure out just how. 

"Good call." Bit commented. "How'd you guess?" 

Byte said nothing; he merely pulled out his blaster and started shooting at Zero. X and Bit started to fight as well.

"So, you're too cowardly to face us when you're at normal levels! You wait until you've gotten a power-up!" X screamed. Bit whirled around, planning on dealing the smart mouthed Rookie a blow across the face. Instead, HE received a punch in the stomach from Zero, who had taken up the task of protecting X. Surprised, he fell backwards. Byte leaped between them, planning on defending Bit.

"Time to pay, Maverick!" Zero snapped as he pulled out his sword. "For everything you've ever said and done to me! I finally have a reason to destroy you!" Bit paid little attention to the speech, if any. He was too busy glaring at Zero to hear anything he said. 

"Just for that blow YOU will die first!" Bit hissed as he pointed at Zero. Bit leaped at Zero, who accepted the challenge, pure glee shining in his eyes. Byte faced off against X.

X fired at Byte. Byte leaped out of the way and returned a shot. X dodged the blast and rammed Byte, sending him flying across the room and into the next. Byte leaped to his feet and shot three blasts at X. X managed to dodge two but was hit by the third. 

"Damn you Byte!" X yelled. Zero was enjoying HIS battle. He fired two shots at Bit, one high and the other low. They both crashed in to the Maverick. Bit fell face first on to the floor. Zero leaped up. Just before Zero could land on his head and crush it, Bit leaped to his feet and dashed away. He leaped through a hole in the ceiling and onto the roof. Surprised, Bit saw Zero jumping after him. They chased each other over the roof tops. Zero blasted Bit in the back, causing him to go crashing to the ground level. Then Zero leaped down after him, a grin of pure malice and delight on his face. 

X attacked Byte even more fiercely than before. They fired back and forth. Byte jerked up, unable to ignore Bit's screams of pain that echoed through the room. Suddenly, Zero appeared on the roof top Byte and X were fighting on. In his arms was Bit's unconscious form. 

Byte looked confused. Then, he yelled out, "Master Vile! We could use a little help!" He grabbed his brother and ran. The Hunters were about to give chase, when a large, blue and red Maverick showed up. He looked something like that Boba Fett in that movie, Star Wars, that X had once seen in a movie from the library. He had heavy firepower on him. X worried that perhaps this wasn't going to be a very easy battle. Zero didn't seem to think so.

"So, you must be this 'Master Vile' Byte trusts so much! Well, you seem to be having trouble finding good help! Seems a we can defeat a Maverick Boss with great ease!" he mocked. Vile merely chuckled. 

"I don't wish to destroy you now. Because Sigma does not wish it. If he did, you would already be dead. He merely wants one of you for observation. We will discover what makes you immune to the virus, and alter the virus to counter it. Then, no bot will be immune! Robots will be supreme! The human menace will be CRUSHED!!!!!!!!!!!!" Zero rushed up to him, waving his sword. 

"Not if I destroy you first!" Vile grabbed the sword in midair. 

"That will be some trick, Hunter." He stated calmly. While he held Zero's sword, he grabbed the surprised robot's arm, and flipped his low-power standby into the ON position. Zero collapsed to the ground. He dumped the unconscious bot into a nearby holding cell, and left to tell Sigma. X could just watch him.

"YOU COWARD!!!! COME BACK HERE AND FIGHT!!!!" X screamed on the top of his metallic lungs. "COWARD!!!"

"I hope you weren't referring to me." The voice that X had learned to despise came floating into X's range of hearing. X wasn't surprised in the least as Sigma's ugly face swept into the room. 

"Ah, X. The pathetic excuse for a Hunter. You think you're tough because you could defeat two of my weakest servants? And you even had help. How silly. But, I have no time to deal with the likes of you, little bot. I have research to perform." He turned his back to X and went to where Zero was being held.

_He doesn't even acknowledge me as a threat! I'll have to change that! _It was then X remembered Proto's words. _"They were too energetic. That was their downfall. If they weren't in such a hurry to destroy the Mavericks, they wouldn't have ended up the way they did." _

_He's right. If I rush in, I'll be destroyed. I've got to think of some other plan. _He looked around for some sort of clue as to Sigma's weakness. His eyes rested on the computer. Way too difficult for X to understand, it was probably a Super Computer even by present standards. It probably controlled everything. And Sigma had his back turned to it. X ventured over and tried to figure it out. 

While he was looking over the controls, he heard some interesting events. Zero's low-power status had been changed, and he was fully awake. X heard shouts and curses, and it sounded like Zero even blasted Sigma in the face a few times. He had been stripped of his sword, but that didn't stop him from causing trouble. X chuckled at the thought.

Since he had no idea how the computer worked, X began randomly pushing buttons. Lights flashed on and off, doors opened and closed. Eventually, Zero's cell opened. 

"Finally!" He leapt out of his prison, grabbed his sword, and attacked Sigma head on. Sigma, unprepared for this, took a few hits, but then got reaccustomed to the feel of fighting. He blasted Zero away with little other than a thought. Zero hit the wall, hard. When he finally rose, he stopped momentarily to marvel at the dent he'd left in the wall. X, not wanting to be left out, joined the fight. Sigma repelled both their attacks easily, and even added some of his own. Both badly bruised, Zero and X dropped back to make a plan. 

"X," Zero whispered. "You've got to take out the main computer, along with the main generator over there." He pulled out a small object. "This is my very last Plasma Grenade. It should have enough power to take out this fortress, and everything else within a mile radius." He started tampering with some of the circuitry in the grenade as he spoke. "I'm setting this for a five-minute delay. It should be enough time for us to escape." He gave the grenade to X. "Go now. I'll hold Sigma off." He ran back to do battle. 

X took the grenade back to the computer, and placed it in the center. He pulled out the pin, and started to leave. He called to Zero behind him. 

"You coming?" 

"Yeah, I'm just a little tied up here." Zero called out from behind Sigma. "I'll catch up. Hurry! Get yourself out of here!" 

X complied, however unwillingly. He remembered how it felt to be in Zero's place. It tends to be a whole lot more painful for everyone when one doesn't listen. Like in that earthquake, so long ago, yet so recently. 

_"The place is coming down!" he yelled. "Get out of here!" _

_"No! Not without you, Mega!" _

_"Don't worry about me!" _

He only hoped Zero could get out in time.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Zero barely dodged Sigma's blow. _Damn it, let up a little! He mentally begged. I don't have much longer!_ He glanced at the timer. 

00:00:55 

_It'll be tight, but if I really turn on the accelerator system, I can probably pull it off._ Zero slashed through Sigma's chest a few times. While Sigma clutched his chest in pain, Zero tried to get away. He was almost out of the room, until he felt a hand grab on to his leg, holding him fast... 

00:00:21 

* * * * * * * * * * * 

X looked around for any sign of Zero. _Come on! He must have gotten away! Zero's got much more experience than me! He's got to be alive! He's just got to! _

He looked at his watch, where he was timing the explosion. 

00:00:15

_Please, Zero! Get out of there!_

00:00:09 

_Time's running out! Where are you? _

00:00:03 

_No... Zero... _

00:00:00

**"ZERO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"**

X's cry was almost as loud as the explosion itself. When the dust cleared, he ran back to the area. 

_Zero's still alive. He's got to still be alive..._

He moved rock after rock, sometimes finding the crushed remains of a Maverick, but nothing special. He didn't find what he was looking for.

_Please... Zero... You can't leave me alone with this job! I don't want to be the last one left! I can't handle this Maverick Hunting thing! Not if it's going to always end up like this! Not without you... _

A flash of blue caught his eye. _Zero's sword!_

He took the sword, and saw a hand, still holding on to it. _Zero's right here! _He tried to clear away the rubble surrounding Zero. It was too heavy for him. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't lift it. It was as if the full force of the fortress had fallen on Zero. Then, the nagging thought from the corner of X's mind took over.

_There's no way Zero could have survived that. He's gone._

As X headed back to Maverick Hunter headquarters, only one thought comforted him. _At least he was buried with all of the honored Hunters. And... He's finally back with Proto Man. He's probably a much happier robot now. Wherever he is. _His thoughts turned towards his future.

_I guess I'll have to work extra hard to make up for the losses. Because, whenever there are Mavericks, there must be those who hunt them. And, I guess now, that's me. _


End file.
